Ukraine Starlink Starshield restored to full operating speed on Saturday, Kyiv’s defence minister said, ending more than a week of service limits that slowed military communications and disrupted drone operations on the front line. Defence Minister Evhenii Khmara said monitoring systems recorded speeds above 400 kilometres per hour and described the connection as stable.
FAKTA
- What happened: Ukraine says Starlink and its military version Starshield are operating again at speeds above 400 kph.
- Who said it: Defence Minister Evhenii Khmara, speaking to reporters in Kyiv on Saturday, October 24.
- How long the limits lasted: More than a week; the restrictions were first reported on October 14.
- How slow it had become: Connection speeds had fallen to about 160 kph or less, according to sources cited by Reuters.
- What is still unclear: The defence ministry did not say whether service had been fully restored.
Ukraine Starlink Starshield Restored: What Changed on Saturday
“The Ministry of Defence’s monitoring systems are recording a return to normal speed for Starlink/Starshield. We are recording a speed of over 400 kph. The connection is stable,” Khmara told reporters. He added that the result mattered above all for the front, for soldiers, and for the operation of drones, logistics and communications.
Ukraine relies on SpaceX’s civilian Starlink network and the more secure Starshield system for military communications and operations, including efforts to defend against Russian missile and drone attacks. The Wall Street Journal reported that drone tests on Saturday morning showed the Starshield connection stable at speeds above 400 kilometres per hour, with tests at higher speeds continuing.
Ten Days of Limits on Drones and Frontline Links
The restrictions, first reported on October 14, undermined Ukraine’s ability to intercept Russian attack drones and disrupted frontline communications, Ukrainian officials said. Interceptor drones that fly faster than the restricted speed lost their connection, forcing crews to fly at slower speeds that made them easier targets.
The disruption was a particular threat to Ukraine’s campaign of medium-range drone strikes against Russian forces behind the front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine, and to air-defence crews hunting jet-powered Russian attack drones that have been bombarding Kyiv and other cities.
The Dispute Behind the Limits
Ukraine’s problems with the SpaceX-owned service came after United States President Donald Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel and waived new sanctions on Moscow while pressing Ukraine to stop striking Russian oil refineries. Reuters has reported that the order to throttle Starshield came from inside the White House, while neither SpaceX chief Elon Musk nor the United States government has acknowledged responsibility for restricting the service. Both have said publicly that any such decision could only have been taken by the other.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the improvement on Saturday came after President Trump called Musk on Wednesday and asked him to restore Ukraine’s Starshield service, according to United States officials. The newspaper has also reported that Musk himself authorised the speed limitations imposed on October 14. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and one Ukrainian official said Kyiv still had not received any explanation from the United States about why Starshield suddenly faced speed limits.
Trump said on Friday that if problems with access to Starlink communications systems in Ukraine persisted, he would “get it straightened out”.
What Remains Unclear
The Ukrainian military does not disclose the systems’ maximum operating speeds, and the defence ministry did not confirm whether service had been fully restored, only that speed metrics had returned to normal. Kyiv’s announcement restores a capability Ukraine had relied on heavily, but the question of who ordered the limits — and whether they could return — remains unanswered.
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